Windmill.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.V

W. J. GLBMSON.

WINDMILL.

APPLIUATIONHLED Humo. 1904.

No MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.. vena?? PATENTED AUG. 2., 1904.

W. J. CLBMSON.

WINDMILL.

APPLICATION Hman rma. 1o. 1904. No MODEL. sHBBTs-sn 12.

UNTTED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WINDNIILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,219, dated August 2, 1904.

Application filed February l0, 1904. Serial No. 192,929. (No model.)

To (/.ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that L VALTER JOHN CLEMsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at roodford Grange, Trysull, near l/Volver-hampton, in the county of Stafford, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in llrinclniills, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to windmills of the type in which a number of blades or slats, which form vanes, are closely arranged in the form of a ring in distinction to the arms spaced far apart of the old type of windmill, and has for its objects yto increase the power of a windmill having' a given blade area, to provide in connection therewith automatic means for preventing undue wind-pressure against the blades, and to improve the means of keeping' the wind-wheel up to the wind in cases in which the wheel drives through mechanism in a manner which tends to turn the axis of the wind-wheel radially.

in the drawings herewith, which illustrate my invention, Figure l is a vertical section through a windmill. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the windmill, a considerable portion of each side of the wheel being broken away for convenience of illustration. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the lifting mechanism for the wheel, taken in the plane indicated by line a; :u of Fig. l. Fig. i is a vertical section showing a modification of the central shield or wind-deiiector hereinafter described. Fig. 5 isa further modification of such shield or deficctor. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one of the sections of the shield or deector shown by Fig. Fig. T is a diagrammatic view of a shield and wind-wheel, of which the blades of the latter are set `forward atan angle with a vertical plane. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a shield and windmill constructed according to this invention, wherein the blades of the windwheel are set forward at right angles with a vertical plane.

Referring' first to the windmill shown by Figs. l, 2,' and 3, Ais the wind-wheel having blades a formed of a curved shape depthwise-that is, from front to back, as shown by Fig. 2. The blades a., taken as awhole, present an annulus which receives the rush of the wind. B is a shield or wind-deflector, which is concentric with the wind-wheel A and presents a conical surface to 'the wind, the base of the cone being of the diameter of the interior of the annulus formed by the blades of the \vin(.lwhecl,and thus the wind which rushes against the conical surface of the shield instead of passing' uselessly through the middle of the wind-wheel, as it would do if the shield were absent, is directed against the blades, thereby greatly increasing the power of a windmill of given blade area. The shield B may be rigid with the wind-wheel, in which case of course it revolves therewith, or it may be fixed in relation to the rotation of the wind-wheel, and thus be prevented from rotating around its own axis. A cylindrical portion B at the base of the shield tends to direct the wind at right angles against the plane of the ring of blades a. C is a cylindrical guard, which is concentric with the wind-wheel A and shield B and is of a diameter approximately that of the exterior of the annulus formed by the blades a, but preferably somewhat greater. rithin the annulus formed between the guard C and the cylindrical portion B at the base of the conical shield B are fixed a number of guidevanes Z) of an oppositely-curved shape depthwise to that of the blades a, as shown in Fig. 2. The guard C tends to insure that any wind deflected sidewise by the shield B will pass through between the blades a, and the guide-vanes 7) direct the wind against the blades (ly in a manner calculated to produce the greatest effect. The guide-vanes 7; must of course be always stationary in relation to the rotation of the wind-wheel A.

The details of construction of the wind wheel and shield may of course be varied considerably, as may be the details of the mechanism through which the wind-wheel performs the desired work. 1n the illustrations shown by Figs. l and 2 the blades a. are carried by arms c from a sleeve d, which is mounted to turn upon a shaft e, and the arms c are stiffencd against the force of the wind by tic-rods f, connected at their inner ends with the forward end of the sleeve (Z. A bevelpinion g is formed or fixed on the rear end of the sleeve Z and gears with the bevel-pinion L, which turns around a horizontal axis which is fixed in relation to the turn-table D. The bevel-wheel t gears with a bevel-pinion 7c, fixed on the upper end of a vertical shaft m, through which the power is carried down to the base of the tower E. The shaft e is carried in a turning frame F, being held rigidly in the ends thereof, and this frame is formed with horizontal trunnions j j", vwhich have a common axis at right angles to the 'axis of the shaft e, and these trunnions are carried in bearings p, which are rigid with the turn-table D, the bevel-wheel it. being mounted to turn upon one of the trunnions in position between its bearing p and the shaft e.

Journaled within an upper' plate g, fixed to the tower E, and a lower plate r, also fixed thereto, are four vertical screws s, geared together near their lower ends by a chain around sprocket-wheels t. These screws are screwed through a frame u, within which is a turning plate fu. A rod a' is carried down from one of the screws s to the base of the tower, and by turning this rod all the screws are rotated and the frame u, and consequently also the plate e, raised or lowered.l A link connects between the plate o and the turning frame F at a distance considerably to one side of the horizontal transverse axis of the frame, and thus as the plate n is raised the shaft e is turned up into a vertical position, bringing the wheel A and shield B, therefore, into position so that the wind cannot affect the wheel. The weight of the turn-table D and parts which it carries is supported by the pillar c thereof resting upon thel table r. As the table turns around its vertical axis the link and plate c turn therewith, the plate o engaging with vertical guides of the pillar c, which compels it to turn with the pillar, and the screws s being spaced apart to allow of the link b revolving between them.

The shield Bis carried upon a tube d', which is firmly fixed on the shaft e. An angle-iron bar G is fixed to the frame F and also to the top of the guard C, and thus assists in supporting also the shield B. The guide-vanes I) must of course be fixed in relation to the rotation of the wind-wheel; but if these vanes are not used the guard C may be fixed to the wind-wheelso as to revolve therewith.

rlhe steering or rudder shaft e has on its inner end abevel-pinion f', which gears with a bevel-wheel g', fixed to the top of the tower,

and this shaft has on its outer end a bevel- Wheel L,with which gear bevel-pinions j' on spindles le. These spindles lie at acute angles with the shaft e', and on the ends of these spindles are wind-wheels H, each of which is preferably, though not necessarily, provided with a shield J, corresponding to the shield B. These wind-wheelsbeing inclined to the axis of the shaft e', as shown, are very sensitive to the iniuence of the wind, and consequently ifthe shaft e is at all out of the line of the direction of the wind the increased force of the wind against one wheel combined with the lessened force of the wind against the other wheel insures that the shaft e will immediately be moved into line with the wind. This will be effected by the bevel-pinion j driving the shaft e' throughv the wheel it and said shaft driving the pinion f'. As this pinion gears with teeth of the fixed wheel g, the effect will be to turn thel turn-table D until the main wind-wheel faces the wind. The shaft e hlas its bearings in an extension of the turntab e.

Referring to the modification of the shield or wind-deflector shown by Fig. 4, B2 is the shield, which is shown as built up with the wind-wheel A", so as to turn therewith. A portion m of the shield from the apex for a considerable distance backward is capable of being receded within the other portion, as indicated by broken lines, so as to allow a considerable portion of the wind to pass through the shield in case of an excessive velocity of wind. Normally this portion of the shield is pressed into its outward position, completely closing the shield, by a spring n around the shaft 0 of the shield, which presses forward a slider p around such shaft. The pressure of the slider is communicated through links g to arms r', pivoted to a mounting s', fixed to such shaft and carrying at their outer ends rollers t', which press against the inner surface of the part m of the shield. Three or more of these arms r' should of course be provided, spaced equally apart. rlhe apex of the shield is strengthened by a block o', which slides along the shaft 0 as the part m' of the shield is moved inward and outward. u represents tie-rods between the outer end of the shaft 0 and the base of the shield.

In the modification of the shield orwinddefiector shown by Figs. 5 and 6 the conical surface of the shield is formed of a number of sections a2 of equal size, divided apart by lines running toward the apex of the cone and pivoted at their smaller ends to amounting 52 on the end of the shaft c2 of the shield and connected at their larger ends by means of links Z2 with the outer ends of arms c2, which are rigidly fixed to the framing of the shield. The mounting b2 is against a collar or fiange g2 on the end of the shaft, but is itself capable of sliding inward along the shaft. A spiral spring fi, which surrounds the shaft c2 presses againstv the mounting Z22 and tends, therefore, normally to maintain the sections r2 in their closed or normal positions; but an excessive pressure of wind tends to force in the shield against the pressure of the springfz, and thus to open out the lsections and allow wind to pass between them, and thus through the shield. The sec- IOO tions are opened out as the result of the links ([2 moving in the curved broken lines lf as the shield is pressed in by the wind. This tendency of an excessive wind-pressure to cause the opening' out of the sections is increased by the g'reater centrifug'al force which results from the quicker rotation of the wind wheel and shield (when the shield is constructed to rotate with the blades) due to the increased wind-pressure. Each section is strengthened at its inner face by a light frame j?, by which also it is pivoted to the mounting' b2 and connected with the links d". The tie-rods 'g are spaced apart to register with the lines of division between the sections rf, so that the sections will clear them as they open.

Either type of shield or wind-deflector above described may be rigid with the windwheel, so as to revolve therewith, or may be stationary in relation to the rotation of the wind-wheel.

It is not of course essential that the oblique or conical surface of the deflector shall actually terminate in a point or apex; but this is obviously preferable to a truncated form.

Referring' to the d iag'rammatie views shown in Figs. 'T and 8, A2 is a shield, and a the windwheel blades, set forward at an angle with the vertical plane being' in the case of Fig. 8 at right angles with such plane. WV hen the blades are set sufficiently forward, as shown in both of these figures, there is no purpose in using' a guard, such as the g'uard C. (Shown in Fig. l.) (Juide-vanes )i may be used also when the blades are set forward at an angle to the vertical plane.

Having' thus described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. A wind-wheel having its blades disposed in the form of a ring, and a wind shield or deflector concentric with the ring of blades and occupying' a position in front of the circular space within the ring of blades, said defector being' pointed, with its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, and having' a substantially cylindrical base adjacent to the wheel.

f2. The combination, with a wind-wheel having a number of blades assembled near to one another and arranged in the form of a ring, of a concentric wind shield, or defiector, occupying' the space in front of the opening' through the ring and presenting' asurface to the wind which is pointed, and has its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, and a guard surrounding' the shield with a space between itself and the shield in front of the blade-ring, said guard tending' to prevent the sidewise escape of wind entering' such space, substantially as set forth.

The combination, with a wind-wheel having' a number of blades assembled near to one another and arranged in the form of a ring, of a concentric wind shield, or deflector, which closes the opening' through the ring and presents a surface to the wind which is pointed, and has its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, and g'uide-vanes assembled at the face of the blade area against which the wind presses, substantially as set forth.

et. A wind-wheel, having' its blades disposed in the form of a ring' and set forward at an ang'le with a vertical plane, and a wind shield or deflector concentric with the ring of blades and occupying a position in front of the circular space within said ring, said deflcctor being pointed, at the front of the wheel and having its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, the base of the dcfector being' surrounded by said ring' of blades.

5. rl`he combination, with a wind-wheel having a number of blades assembled near to one another and arranged in the form of a ring, of a concentric wind shield, or deiiector, oecupying' the space in front of the opening' through the ring and presenting a surface to the wind which is pointed, and has its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, the shield being formed in parts which are movable in relation to one another and under excessive wind-pressure separate and leave passage-way for wind through the shield, substantially as set forth.

6. rlhe combination, with a wind-wheel having a number of blades assembled near to one another and arranged in the form of a ring, of a concentric wind shield, or deflector, occupying' the space in front of the opening' through the ring and presenting' a surface to the wind which is pointed, and has its apex coincident with the axis of the wheel, a part of such shield with which is formed a portion of the tapering surface thereof being mounted movably in relation to a part of the shield to the rear thereof which is formed also with a tapering portion of the surface of such shield, and an elastic medium by which such movablymounted part is pressed forward to normally complete the surface of the shield, but which yields backward and allows such part of the shield to be recedcd within the rearward portion, by an excessive pressure of the wind, leaving' an opening' through the shield through which wind can pass, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with a wind-wheel having a number of blades assembled near to one another and arranged in the form of a ring, of a concentric conical wind shield, or deflector, occupying' the space in front of the opening through the ring' and having its smaller end toward the wind, said shield being' divided into a forward conical portion which is slidably mounted on its supporting-axle, and a rear portion which presents toward the wind the annular surface of a frustum of a cone, a spring which presses forward the conical portion and thereby normally maintains the surface of the shield in its complete form,

IOO

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wheel is transmitted to such shaft, and gearing between such shaft and the top of the windmill-tower, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof l have hereunto signed my name, this 29th day of January, 1904, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER J. CLEMSON.

Witnesses:

y ROBERT G. GRovEs,

vPAUL HFFNER. 

